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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The REAL Story Behind Keselowski's "Phone Fine"

"Hey! That guy's got a laptop!"

There is more to Brad
Keselowski’s $25,000 fine for carrying a cell phone in his race car than meets
the eye.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point
leader was fined and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 for having a cell
phone aboard his Penske Racing/Miller Lite Dodge Sunday at Phoenix
International Raceway. NASCAR said Keselowski violated Sections 12-1 and
20-6.7A of the Sprint Cup Series rule book, which states “cars and drivers will
not be permitted to carry onboard computers, automated electronic recording
devices, electronically actuated devices, power distribution modules, power
conditioners, micro-processors, recording devices, electronic digital memory
chips, traction control devices, digital readout gauges and the like, even if
inoperable or incomplete.”

That came as a surprise to those who
recall Keselowski snapping pictures during a red-flag stoppage during the
Daytona 500 and posting them to Twitter. NASCAR did not sanction Keselowski at
that time, and actually applauded his initiative in interacting with his fans.

That policy has changed. Here’s why.

NASCAR director of
communications for competition Kerry Tharp said today that the sanctioning body has
had to police the flow of digital information, including the use of cell phones
by drivers. “Brad Keselowski’s tweeting at the Daytona 500 was
our first introduction to the magnitude of the social media phenomenon at the
race track,” said Tharp. “Especially the way we saw it play out that evening.

“We
encourage our drivers and competitors to participate in social media. It’s one
of the best ways for them to communicate directly with their fans. In the days
and weeks following the D500, we talked to the teams and drivers and said that
while social media was encouraged/promoted at the race track, the language in
the rule book was clear – drivers cannot carry electronic devices such as cell
phones while on the race track.”

Tharp said
that while transmission of information from garage stall to team transporters
is commonly done wirelessly, NASCAR requires the actual downloading of the ECU
to be done with a hard line connection. The rule banning electronic devices
from the cockpit is part of that initiative, though Tharp said NASCAR has told
drivers “it is OK for someone to hand them a phone when they get out of the
car.”

He said
drivers were informed months ago that cell phones in race cars would no longer
be allowed.

“I
specifically recall NASCAR having conversations with the drivers and teams
about this at some of the early races like Phoenix and Las Vegas. This simply
is a competition issue and the reinforcement of an existing rule that has been
in the rule book for quite some time.”

Adding another level of intrigue to
the issue, multiple reliable sources tell SiriusXM
Speedway that at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team has downloaded CPU
information from its cars wirelessly in recent weeks, in violation of NASCAR
rules. Wireless transmission of
information from garage stall to team transporter is legal and commonly done,
but downloading information from the car is required by NASCAR to be done via
hard line connection.

Sources
say at least one team has circumvented that rule, in an effort to expedite the process by obtaining
information on pit road or while en route to the garage, saving time and
allowing more efficient adjustments in practice.

Interestingly, sources say that when
an opposing team learned of those clandestine wireless downloads, they obtained
a wireless system of their own, hacked the opposing team’s security and gained
access to the information for themselves.

NASCAR’s Tharp said the sanctioning
body has “absolutely zero knowledge” of
data piracy in the Sprint Cup garage, adding, “At the end of the day, the
information contained in the ECU is fairly common knowledge in the garage
area.”

The bottom
line, he said, is that teams are responsible for keeping their information
secured.

Clearly, NASCAR has an interest in
controlling the flow of digital information through the NASCAR garage. Clearly,
teams have an interest in harnessing and utilizing that information as quickly
and efficiently as possible, and are not above swiping another team’s
information if they catch them with their digital pants down.

In the
end, Tharp stressed that Keselowski’s fine “has nothing to do with social
media. We do not want to restrict any type of driver/fan access here.”

9 comments:

Nascar should officiate whats going on the track first and dont worry about a cell phone, they dont even know when to put yellow flag out. Nascar worrys about all the wrong things jusy like they always do.

A couple of weeks ago on Speed's pre-race show, I caught the end of what appeared to be a running joke about Toyota devoloping a "special" iPad for its teams, they even showed one of the #15 crew guys hiding one from view as the camera panned his way. It seemed like a big deal for that episode, but I havent heard it mentioned since.

Uh, if that's what NASCAR really believes, then why wouldn't they confiscate BK's cell phone and do a forensic analysis of the operating system within, to determine what info passed into/out of the device. The technology's been there for awhile, and the same authority for NASCAR to do so exists for confiscating parts and entire racecars and taking them back to the R&D division. I say their reason for BK's penalty is bull. The underlying reason was for his honest, up-front, no holds barred answers in the media center post race.